[Europe]Press Release: The Importance of Trans* Inclusion
During the 2015 annual conference of the European Forum, in Merville, France, changes to the internal regulations and statutes were made to promote greater trans* inclusion in the organisation. The Forum wants to attract more transgender groups and ensure that trans* people are fully included in the work . Towards this aim the Forum offers a trans* pre-conference to provide a safe space for trans* Christians to discuss and share relevant issues and has changes the internal regulations to encourage trans* representation on the board.

[Croatia]Backlash on the Freedom of Speech: Attack on Zagreb Pride
Zagreb Pride would like to inform you about the development of a judicial practice imposing serious restrictions on freedoms of LGBTIQ citizens in Croatia. The latest court decision against Zagreb Pride is an outcome of an organized campaign from clerical-right groups that led to the 2013 Constitutional Referendum banning same-sex marriage. Their wider conservative campaign aims to limit human rights of LGBTIQ persons and restrict sexual and reproductive rights in Croatia by targeting our partners from the 2013 Vote no Campaign: CroL – Croatian LGBT News Portal, Center for Peace Studies, Center for Education, Information, and Counseling (CESI) and GONG. As our case demonstrates, they de facto succeeded in circumscribing the right of Zagreb Pride and other LGBTIQ organizations, LGBTIQ citizens, and citizens supporting LGBTIQ equality to publicly express their value-based judgment regarding the homophobic character of someone’s actions.

Provincetown, Massachusetts, July 12, 2015 – Real Life Experience, Inc. is proud to announce that the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award for 2015 will go to Monica Roberts. The award, named after the late Virginia Prince, will be presented on October 20, 2015 in Provincetown, Massachusetts during the 41st annual Fantasia Fair conference.

In 1994, after seeing an article with a problematic representation of Black trans people in a trans centric magazine, Ms. Roberts resolved to participate in the next GenderPac trans lobby day in Washington DC and increase the visibility of Black trans leaders in the transgender movement. Since then, she’s advocated for trans human rights protections and has lobbied at the federal, state and local levels in Kentucky and Texas.

Monica is a founding member of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition and served on its inaugural board as its Lobby Chair from 1999-2002. She co-hosted a GLBT radio show in her hometown from 1999-2001, founded the Transsistahs-Transbrothas Internet discussion list for African-American transgender people in 2004, and helped organize the 2005 and 2006 Transsistahs-Transbrothas Conferences that took place in Louisville.

Ms. Roberts is also a prolific writer. She wrote for the Louisville-based GLBT newspaper "The Letter" and since 2006, has authored the award-winning blog TransGriot. According to GLAAD, the writings at TransGriot made Monica Roberts “the first African American trans woman to create a news outlet that not only reports trans women of color issues but also showcases the leaders in the fight for equality of trans people… filling a void in the blogsphere.” Her writing about transgender issues from a Black perspective has appeared at Ebony.com, Loop21.com, Transadvocate, Racialicious, Feministe, Global Comment, The Bilerico Project, What Tami Said and Womanist Musings.

Monica seeks to not only end the erasure of African-American trans voices from a movement they played significant roles in starting, but get African-American transpeople and other voices of color more involved in empowering themselves. Her activism focus is educating the GLBT community and allies about our issues and concerns in addition to shedding light about the struggles of GLBT people across the African Diaspora.

"We delighted to help showcase the outstanding work of a true pioneer of our community" said Barbara Curry, the Executive Director of Fantasia Fair. Ms. Curry continues saying "Monica Roberts has made a significant, positive impact on so many. It is an honor to have her join us this October in Provincetown."

ABOUT FANTASIA FAIR - Started in 1975, “Fan Fair” is the oldest and longest-running gathering of transgender persons for mutual education, support, collaboration, and socializing. The week-long event happens every October in the resort town of Provincetown, Massachusetts. Presenters scheduled to appear at the 41st Fantasia Fair include Denise Norris, Marisa Richmond, Aaron Devor, Ph.D., and Dr. Jillian Weiss, and many others. For more information about Fantasia Fair, including workshops, daily schedule, and scholarships, please visit http://www.fantasiafair.org.

[TX, USA]Opponents of HERO go to court
HERO ordinance opposers drop 20K signatures off at city hall
Dave Wilson, Founder of Houstonians for Family Values, has filed a Writ of Mandamus and wants voters to have the final say petition to define "Gender Identity" for the November ballot.